


Huntress Of Heart

by L_C_Weary



Series: Athena and The Pals [2]
Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Hellenistic Religion & Lore, The Iliad - Homer
Genre: F/F, Falling In Love, Mentioned Sacrifice, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 16:30:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12987987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L_C_Weary/pseuds/L_C_Weary
Summary: Artemis is a cruel but fair goddess. She wanted Agamemnon to suffer but she has no intention of punishing her daughter.





	Huntress Of Heart

**Author's Note:**

> (Iphigenia turned out to be a bit more obsessed than originally planned. Sorry.)
> 
> Not first language. No beta. You can figure the rest.

You remember the way the knife was getting closer to you. If you use your imagination you can also remember the second the blade scratched you skin. For a moment you wondered with panic, how painful death may be. There was something unspeakable about the power of a weapon striking down at you, it made you forget to fear death. In you last moment on earth you wished you could watch your little brother grow up.

You haven't been introduced to the people around you, when you arrived, but you know you are looking at her. The Goddess of everything you ever adored. She's pure, the wilderness itself, she rules the hunt and she's the protector of girls.

You don't need to introduce yourself either. You sit on a giant altar, similar to the one you were supposed to be sacrificed. Or where you have been sacrificed, you are not sure. She looks down at you, her eyes are the color of the sky on a windless, quiet night. She does not seem to be mad at you, nor do her huntresses. They look interested and beautiful. You feel happy, even though you just died. Or at least lost your way of existing as men know it.

The forest around you smells like the high-garden you once visited with you father. Everything is green around you, each in a different shade, the grass, the leaves, the moss, with the exception of the barks of trees and the colorful flowers that grow all around. The sky is orange, almost red as the night evades the day. It reminds you of blood, probably your own blood.

"Do you know who I am?" she asks you. There is an urge to fall to your knees, but the goddess extends on hand towards you. "Do you?"

"Yes, Artemis." You answer and your voice does not crack. It's a miracle. Both you voice and your survival. "Why did you save me, if I might ask?" You desire the answer, the words to form comprehensible thoughts in your mind. You take her hand and she leads you to a campfire. Her huntresses follow the two of you, and as they finish their preparation for the feast, you all take a seat around the fire. They offer you food too and it does not taste like anything you tried before. It's divine.

"Do you think I wronged you?" she asks mildly curious. Her huntresses dance and sing and talk. They seem happy. You have no doubt they are. You are seated next to Artemis and she leans toward you as lock of her braided hair falls in her eyes. Her hair has the color of the oldest and the most majestic tree's bark you once saw in the way to Delphoi. "Do you feel I took something away from you?"

You know the answer and you think she knows what you'll say too, but you're happy to talk to her. The Goddess you never even dared to wish to meet. 

"That any god is evil I do not believe[1]" you confess. "You must have a reason and a goal for your actions that I might not understand." It is a beautiful sentence. This is how people should talk to gods. She smiles at you. Not with pity, for you weak attempt at pleasing her but with joy for your honesty perhaps.

"Do not fear my, girl. Here at my land we do not lead a hierarchy. I am your god, but we treat each other like friends. We are friends. We hunt, we feed, we fight and live. This is what I offer you. My company." She says it like it's not the most wonderful adventure you ever wanted to be part of. You move your gaze along the girls. "But to prove your wise mind, I mean to offer you something else, as I'm not evil. You're end is your father's punishment. I can take you back to the land of men. I will not give you your old life back, my punishment would lose its effect, but I'm willing to give you another life, somewhere far from the Trojan War." 

First you gaze at each other, then you watch her girls. Her huntresses share her curious features and honest look as you try to categorize their acts. They seem to be part of something celestial you craved from the moment you left your mother's womb.

You look at the surrounding forest, you feel the secrets in the trees, in the darkness of it, the secrets it wants to tell you. You look at the girls, who were chosen for this special road to walk, and you wonder if it was written in your and their faith before you were born or you just happened to be lucky.

You choose Artemis and her huntresses. It is not a match between the two options. You quickly grow fond of all of them. They are honest and true not as your friend on the land of men. You try to be true, and with great people around you it is not hard. You feel safe and secure at the goddess's land. It is full of adventures, the hunt, the creatures, the stories you tell each other before the night falls.

Artemis asks a lot, she looks like she wants to understand everything as much as she understands the wilderness, and she does it with questions. To you mostly, you're the newest addition to her warriors, but she often does asks the others too. About their own country, their celebrations, their feelings just in general. She also likes to listen to the stories her girls tell her. It makes you feel special that you're on of her huntresses.

You handle the bow with difficulties but you're getting better with each passing day. Artemis teaches you personally. She explains to you, how she watched you and found your bravery unique and fascinating. You feel pride. You feel like you have found your place.

The girls are wonderful. You talk to them for hours and you don't get bored with them. They listen to your stories and do not laugh at you. They tell you their stories and suddenly you can feel their joys and pain and you are more than happy to carry all of your burdens together.

One night, when you are a bit separated someone asks you if you desired Achilles. It's the first time you think about the land of men. It saddens you, and make you embarrassed you have not though about you family.

"Do you?" It's Artemis who repeats the question, not demanding, but undoubtedly curious. Her tone lets you know, she does not favor Achilles. The warrior was an honest man, he offered to fight your father for your honor, but you did not require his services. You never knew him as a person so you evade the question with experience.

"It is better to be with an incredible man with no interest in you, than a horrible man with too much interest in you." She smiles at that. It's the first night she invites you into her tent. She understands what you mean with your sophisticated words.

You thought the huntresses would envy you, but there's no real envy in this land. Artemis loves all of you, and as you do not crave the kisses they share between each other, they do not crave the private kisses Artemis gives you.

No one can understand the decisions the gods make, but maybe you are one of the few, the gods share their hearts with. One particular god, but her heart is all you need in your life. You trust her decisions, she trusts you with insight to them. Why wouldn't you? It was what made your roads cross. 

**Author's Note:**

> (Find me on [tumblr](http://answermywearyquery.tumblr.com/).)
> 
> [1]Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris [ return to text ]


End file.
